5 things you should know by July 2: Covid, police, Russia, social media, Confederate bases

There has been a lot of movement in the national push for police reform after high-profile cases of police violence against African Americans. Three Democratic senators have proposed a bill to end qualified immunity, which critics say protects law enforcement and government officials from legal liability. Republicans say they are not on board to remove it, but some say they would consider reviewing it. Whatever happens, corporate America has signaled that it is in favor of further dialogue on federal police reform. Business Roundtable, a trade group representing the CEOs of some of the country’s largest companies, calls on Congress to commit to passing bipartisan police reform before the August recess. Major cities have already taken steps, including the New York City movement to cut its 2021 police department budget by $ 1 billion, although some city lawmakers think the cuts are not enough.

A Pentagon report says Russia has been actively working with the Taliban and other groups in Afghanistan to accelerate the withdrawal of US troops from the country. The U.S. military has long suspected a link between Russia and the Taliban, and this new report comes as the Trump administration struggles to respond to intelligence indicating that Russian operatives offered rewards to linked militants of the Taliban for killing service members from the US and the UK. Former Trump administration officials told CNN that the president’s disinterest in listening to intelligence warnings about Russia led his national security team to report less frequently verbally about Russia-related threats to the U.S. Trump continues claiming that he was not informed about the intelligence of the Russian rewards.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg agreed to meet with civil rights organizers behind the boycott that resulted in large companies withdrawing their ads from the social media platform. The beginning of July marked a series of boycotts by big brands like Hershey’s, Pfizer and Levi Strauss. While some analysts doubt that the boycott will have a significant impact on Facebook’s finances (many small and medium-sized companies still trust the platform, and most of its top spenders are not involved in the boycott), it still rocked users. investors and caused a PR crisis for Facebook’s Best Brass. Now that the groups behind the boycott have the attention of Facebook, they are promoting a series of changes, from the announcements that the platform allows to the composition of its leadership team and its content moderation policies. The groups say they oppose “Facebook’s repeated failure to meaningfully address the large proliferation of hate on their platforms.”

The Department of Homeland Security announced a new task force to protect “American monuments, monuments and statues” as cities and states (and sometimes self-employed citizens) continue to contemplate removing symbols and Confederate references. The American Communities Protection Task Force will also be responsible for coordinating the DHS response to any possible political unrest. President Trump has shown a direct interest in the subject. Last week, he signed an executive order on the protection of monuments. This week, he threatened to veto a defense policy bill that must be passed if it contains an amendment requiring the name change of military bases named for Confederate leaders. Republican senators are playing down their threat, saying they have plenty of time to tackle the amendment before the bill reaches the president’s desk.

Another safety issue to be aware of if you plan to light this Fourth of July.

But why was it such an important part of the game in the first place?

Imagination is an infinite resource, so let’s get to it!

If all goes well, a new generation of female soccer stars will hit the field next spring.

That is the number of fires recorded in the Brazilian Amazon jungle in June, the highest number of fires registered in that month since 2007. Experts agree that the climate crisis has contributed to the increase, but the country has also seen an increase in deforestation under President Jair Bolsonaro, who was elected in October 2018.

Actor Chris O’Dowd, who was involved in the highly teased video featuring celebrities singing “Imagine” by John Lennon. O’Dowd says the video was a well-intentioned mistake.

They can break yards, but wow, baby moles are really cute. (Click here to see.)